Medical residents and fellows at Mass General Brigham hospitals are looking to unionize, gaining support from Boston City Council President Ed Flynn and City Councilor At-Large Ruthzee Louijeune. On April 4, they filed a petition to hold an election with the National Labor Relations Board.
Now, residents brace for a fight.
Dr. Sascha Murillo, an internal medicine resident at Massachusetts General Hospital and one of the leaders behind the unionization effort, told Greater Boston Thursday, “MGB is engaging in some union-busting activities, sending emails trying to discourage people from supporting our unionizing efforts.”
In a statement, MGB said best results would be achieved by working directly with residents, “rather than through representatives in a process that can lead to conflict and potentially risk the continuity of patient care.”
But Murillo said there are no representatives negotiating on behalf of the residents.
“We, the residents, are the union,” she said. “We are asking for a direct partnership as a union, and we think this is the most effective way to make sure our voices are heard and to advocate for our patients.”
Eighty-plus hour work weeks, sleep deprivation and poor working conditions are often considered a rite of passage for medical residents.
But on top of burnout, Murillo said much of residents’ work is administrative and doesn’t require medical training. “We’re dealing with a lot of paperwork, a lot of prior authorization to get try to get our patients their medications and dealing with a lot of other systemic barriers.”
Murillo said an overhaul of the entire residency program is needed.
Boston Councilor At-Large Ruthzee Louijeune, who supports the union drive, said medical residents sacrifice a lot to care for patients and argued that supporting a union will not destroy that quality of care.
“It’s really important that we stand with workers related to unionizing so that folks can have living wages, benefits and are able to retire with dignity,” Louijeune said. “None of us are meant to be cogs in a wheel or widgets. We are people who require rest, and we need to make sure we are infusing more passion into our systems. You do that with unions.”
The next step, Murillo said, is working with MGB to hold a union election before the end of the academic year in June.
WATCH: Mass General Brigham residents, trainees at odds with leadership over working conditions, union push
